


Photographs

by Showtime (Loki_Likey_Thor_Odinson)



Series: Hockeyween 2016 [4]
Category: Hockey RPF
Genre: Dallas Stars, Mild Horror, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-10-17
Updated: 2016-10-17
Packaged: 2018-08-23 00:28:58
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,688
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/8306855
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Loki_Likey_Thor_Odinson/pseuds/Showtime
Summary: Tyler should be more careful about taking photos of the dark...





	

There was nothing like fresh air.  
  
It was one of Tyler’s favourite things when he got back to Canada, he and his family resorting to getting a cabin in the woods for a week, to celebrate him being back home, spending some quality time together.  
  
Except this time, it was different.  
  
His parents couldn’t get the time off work, and his sisters were busy with their own separate lives. Tyler couldn’t say he was disappointed; he had been looking forward to some proper alone time for a while. He wanted some time where he didn’t have to worry about being up early, where there wasn’t a chance for a team mate to come over unexpectedly, or to be called into training on a day off.  
  
Now that the season was over, he had that opportunity – for a while at least.  
  
Tyler had decided on his first night back home that his photography passion had gone neglected, and decided to book the family’s usual cabin and packed a small bag to disappear for two nights.  
  
When he got there, he found it peacefully.  
  
The woods the cabin was hidden away in always managed to take Tyler’s breath away. Flowers littered the walkways, bright reds, purples and yellows shining, almost glowing in the sun. Animals – squirrels, otters, and deers – grazed and roamed freely, with nothing to fear. Birds chirped, the sun beat down, and the river flowed freely.  
  
Tyler leaned back with a smile where he sat, resting against a tree trunk. He was thoroughly enjoying his lunch, merely watching the fish in the lake swim by. He wondered if his Father would want to come up here for a fishing trip sometime soon; maybe he could invite Jamie, maybe even some of Sharpy’s friends from the Hawks. Apparently Toews was into fishing. Yeah, that sounded like a good time.  
  
Smiling, Tyler leant back fully, rolling his energy bar wrapper up and making sure to stuff it back into his bag until he found a bin left for hikers in the area, relaxing under the sun. He watched the birds arching across the sky, flying in patterns that seemed too impossible for them to form without some human-type knowledge. He watched two birds break from the group and fly in front of a cliff… but his eyes lingered on the cliff.   
  
The top of the cliff was surrounded in darkness, tall trees and high ledges completely blocking the sun out. Tyler glanced around, finding it almost impossible that there was absolutely no light hitting the particular ridge, but quickly began to feel uneasy watching it. For some reason, he could swear he could feel someone staring back at him, as if someone was staring directly into his soul. The longer he stared, the more he could have sworn he could see a humanoid figure in the blackness, although he wasn’t entirely sure it was just his mind playing trick, inventing someone there to explain the feeling of being watched.  
  
However, Tyler’s unease only grew and he quickly packed his water into the side of his bag, and the few things he had gotten out back inside of his bag, before he stood up, hauling it onto his back. He hesitated as he put his camera around his neck and turned it on, zooming in as much as possible – his telephoto lenses would have been best for this, but they were at the bottom of his bag – and he snapped a picture of the ridge, hoping to make sense of it later on.  
  
Casting one more look at the ridge, he turned his back and carried on with the trail through to the cabin.

 

-xox-

 

When Tyler finally got to the cabin that night, he was exhausted. He’d left his truck out further than he usually did, giving himself an extra two hours walk. The lights thankfully flickered on, casting out the darkness of the night, and he, carefully, dropped his bag on the table. He went through it, glad he had thought to pack some left overs that could be eaten cold because he didn’t quite fancy heading outside and fighting with the gas cylinders to get the oven to work.   
  
Pulling his cutlery and a book out his bag also, he made his way to the bed in the single room. Dropping everything on the duvet, he leaned down to take his boots off, struggling with the laces. As he fiddled, cursing here and there, Tyler slowly froze as the hairs on the back of his neck began to stand up. The feeling of being watched was back again, and it made him shiver and sit up, looking around. Of course, there was nothing there, nothing in the windows, no one else in the cabin. Slightly paranoid, Tyler got up and closed all the curtains, blocking the outside world out completely.  
  
Shuddering for a moment, Tyler sat down and removed his hiking boots, kicking them half under the bed as he settled down. Popping open his box of leftovers, he sat cross legged, the pasta salad balancing on his knee as he opened his book, eating slowly as he read.  
  
Once again, however, it wasn’t long until the hairs on his arms stood up, and Tyler’s head shot up. Someone was definitely watching him, it couldn’t be his mind imagining things, but there was no one in the cabin. The eyes seemed to come from the corner of the room in shadow, the oven, cabinets and single worktop blocking the light entering the area.   
  
Tyler really wasn’t liking this.  
  
Just to be on the safe side, to quench his paranoia – _probably left over from that damn ridge. Whoever that was playing a trick did a damn good job_ – he fished his phone charging case out his bag and set his phone up, putting the torch on and angling his phone against the wall so the light shone directly into the corner before he returned to his food and book.

 

-xox-

 

Tyler woke up with a groan, blinking his eyes awake as light shone into the cabin. Frowning, he rolled over, glancing at the window closest to him. He immediately shot upright upon seeing the curtains wide open – he definitely remembered shutting them.   
  
Looking to the side, his alarm further rose when he saw all his things strewn across the cabin floor. His bag was open, hanging upside down on the door handle to the cabin, empty. His phone was gone from the bedside table, and he frantically looked around until he saw the tell tale flash of his charging case in the corner.  
  
Tyler frowned when he realised it was in the dark corner he had set it up to shine in.  
  
Heading over and picking it up, he found that the light on the back of it had been completely cracked – yet the rest of his phone was fine; there wasn’t even a scratch. He opened his phone to turn the light on to check it – only to find that the torch was still _on_ , it just didn’t _work_. He turned it off and stood, quickly starting to pack his things up.  
  
He was heading home, he wasn’t staying here.  
  
Sighing heavily, it took him a good fifteen minutes just to get his essentials packed. Walking across the room, he found his camera hanging off the oven handle and he sighed, picking it up. Noticing it was on, he clicked the review button. It opened on his first picture of yesterday and he flicked through.  
  
Clicking the button, he frowned when he realised that the photo of the ridge was gone. He flicked through the few photos where it should be, but it was gone. Completely.  
  
Maybe whoever had been on the ridge didn’t want their photo taken and had gone to all this trouble just to delete the photo?  
  
It seemed extreme, but it was the only thing that Tyler could think of.  
  
He went to put the camera down, only to freeze when his thumb caught the _next photo_ button.   
  
With a shaking hand, Tyler lifted the camera up, staring in disbelief.  
  
The photo was of _him_ , _asleep_ in the cabin bed. His book was in his hand, hanging off the bed; the only reason it hadn’t dropped was because it was caught between his hand and the floor. His pasta salad box was on the floor where he had left it, the fork lying next to him.  
  
But that wasn’t what had made his blood run cold.  
  
What made his blood run cold, was the horrific quarter of a face in the corner of the screen. Skin was peeling off, what looked like a forehead, but it was the eye on camera that made him want to be sick.   
  
A pure red eye, no sclera, no iris, no pupil, just pure, blood red.  
  
There was a sound of footsteps behind him and Tyler jumped out of his skin, glancing around in a panic. Without hesitation, he grabbed his bag, the truck keys on the table by the door, hung his camera around his neck and fled.  
  
As he did, he had the uneasy feeling that someone was watching him from behind until he disappeared into the tree line. Looking back, he thought he could see a figure in the window. A hand appeared, slowly waving at him, and Tyler sprinted, not even stopping for food or water until his truck was a good ten miles away and he was on road and around buildings.

 

-xox-

 

The Seguin family only went back to the cabin once. Armed with powerful torches, they collected the rest of Tyler’s things, and then left it, leaving it for the next family to rent out.  
  
After a few months, the whole incident had been forgotten. The Stars had found the whole situation weird, and the photo – that Tyler had printed – was the talk of the Internet and the locker room for weeks.  
  
At least, all was forgotten, until Jamie came in one day, pale-faced, shaking and clinging to his brother, who held out a small, square shaped piece of photographic paper.


End file.
